Guardian Angel
by A Fading Shadow
Summary: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; Saitoh shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: This is my first romance fic, so please send as many flames and as much constructive criticism as you want and can. I might need the help.

=Prologue=

Kaoru stared at the blood-soaked body slowly falling in front of her.

"Kenshin!" she screamed as she stumbled forward, ignoring her broken leg, "Be alright, kami let him be alright!"

His body didn't move.

"I....I beat him....I beat Battosai!" an ecstatic Borislav (OC) screeched into the sky, "I beat hi-" Unfortunately for the victorious swordsman, Sanosuke was standing right behind him and had punched the back of his neck so hard Borislav went unconscious.

Yahiko ran right through the front doors of the gate to the Kamiya Dojo with the police right behind him, but stopped at the sight of his friend lying dead on the ground.

"No, Kenshin...."

=End Prologue=

A/N: I know this is short, but it's only the prologue. My prologues are almost always short, but the chapters are better. Please review!


	2. Grief

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: Here's the first chapter. I hope you all like it more than the prologue.

=Chapter 1=

"Dammit Kenshin, why'd you have go and die?! Jou-chan hasn't talked or eaten all day!" thought Sanosuke as he walked down the deserted dirt street through Tokyo. The rain beat down heavily on his figure but he didn't care.

"I bet you weren't even thinking of the consequences of you protecting everybody in Tokyo, were you?! You didn't bother to think about how we would all react to you dying.

"Oh yes, we never thought of that. You were always so strong, so fast, and able to overcome any opponent. I guess Death wasn't an adversary we were thinking about at the time.

"How could you leave us all here?! Were all being torn apart because of it, Kenshin! You even helped me see how much good I could do for the world no matter how bad I seem on the outside. We all looked up to you, and now you're gone! How can you do this to all of us? How can you do this to Jou-chan?!"

Sanosuke was only vaguely aware of where he was going as he walking towards the pier. Several men were trying to lift some heavy boxes off of a ship but they kept slipping on the wet wood.

"Hey, Sano!" shouted the ship's owner, Nobu, one of the Rooster-head's old friends. He was of medium height and wore plain brown clothes that matched his short hair and bright eyes. "Can you give us a hand over here? I'll pay you!"

"Sure," the man answered as he picked up one of the largest crates, placed it one his shoulder, held it secure with both hands, and followed the other men.

"Here you go, and thanks for helping us out there," Nobu said as he handed Sanosuke a large envelope with some money in it, "Maybe you could come and help us next Monday?"

"Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do.

"Sano, I heard about your friend Kenshin. I'd like you to know that we're all sorry for you and your other friends. He saved all our lives from Borislav."

Sagara didn't reply to the statement and walked out into the pouring rain.

"We're all sorry for you, Sano...."

=With Kenshin=

Kenshin covered his eyes at the sight of the person in front of him, for they radiated a light so bright that one couldn't look at them directly without going blind.

"I know thou wishes to return to thy friends, and this one shall grant thy wish, if thou is willing to accept this one's offer," said the figure in a deep and majestic masculine voice. The past slayer merely nodded for he felt incredibly inferior.

"Then thou must go and continue protecting those with none to help them, for if thy does not, thou friends shall be joining thy here very quickly."

"I.... I'll do it...."

All of the sudden, Kenshin was surrounded by nothing but darkness and had the strangest sensation of falling even though he wasn't moving. Crying could be heard all over in the endless space until it suddenly stopped as a large thud was heard.

"May he rest in peace," said a solemn male voice that echoed in the empty blackness, right before it all melted away.

Kenshin could now see that he was in the graveyard towards the northern end of Tokyo. Taking a brief look around, his eyes froze on the nearest grave. It had fresh flowers that were slowly being crushed by the swiftly falling rain. Upon closer inspection he could read the name written on the tombstone:

**Himura Kenshin**

"So they've already buried me," said the swordsman with a grim look on his face, "I guess I can't come back, that I can't." With that Kenshin turned and started towards the Kamiya Dojo, but stopped quite quickly.

"I'm _floating_?!"

=End Chapter 1=

A/N: There's the first real chapter, so please review! And see if you can find out what nationality Borislav and Nobu are and what their names mean.


	3. The Innocence of a Child

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; Saitoh shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: Reviewer responses:

cleo: Thanks! I'll try to update, but I start school on Wednesday.

jy: I've always pictured Sanosuke as the tough guy, and he doesn't want anybody to see him cry so he lets his emotions out a different way.

Kenshinbaby: Thanks, that's the kind of reviews I really need. Comments are nice, but criticism is better. Kenshin was supposed to come back later the same night they buried him, but I guess I forgot to put that in.

=Chapter 2=

After Kenshin got over the fact that he was floating and that the rain went straight through him and never got him wet, the samurai shot off like a bullet out of a gun towards the Kamiya Dojo, going straight through several people that were trying to get out of the rain.

=Kamiya Dojo=

Kamiya Kaoru was a mess. Her hair was tangled, her clothes were dirty and wet from the rain, and her leg was still slightly injured because of Borislav. However, the worst things about her right now were her eyes. They looked almost as dead as Kenshin's; their cerulean color had faded into a dark blue. Next to her was a tray with cold untouched food.

"Kenshin...." she muttered softly into the empty room, "Why'd you have to die....?" Tears started to slowly fall down her face until she was sobbing out loud.

Unbeknownst to Kaoru, Kenshin was watching her. Her every tear seemed to stab his heart.

=Clinic=

"Honestly, Dr. Genzai, I don't know what to do about Kaoru. I was able to snap her out of it after Kenshin left for Kyoto but now that he's dead I don't know if she'll ever go back to normal," complained Megumi.

"You should take the day off and visit everyone. I'm sure you'll need it as much as them," Dr. Genzai replied, "And don't worry about the clinic, I can take care of everything."

The woman silently thanked him as she walked out of the building and onto the dirt road that led to the Kamiya Dojo.

=Kamiya Dojo=

"Kaoru, you are going to the market with me and that's final!"

"No."

"Don't make me drag you girl!"

"...no."

"That's it!"

Megumi then pulled Kaoru off of her futon and said, "First, you are going to get a new kimono on, and fix your hair! You look like a mess!" The fox woman then walked out of the room and down towards the kitchen, but not before shouting, "Do you really think Sir Ken would want you to act like this?!"

Kaoru stared straight at the wall for a bit then whispered to nothing, "What would he think of me acting like this....?"

"He would think that you should forget him, that he would," Kenshin whispered back even though she couldn't hear him, "He doesn't want you to do this to yourself and you should get on with your life."

After about ten minutes, Megumi came back in the room and took the now refreshed Kaoru out of the house and towards the market. "I'll get some eggs, rice, and salt. You go get the tofu, flour, and fish," said the fox woman before walking away.

Kaoru started towards one of the salesmen before realizing she forgot her money at home. Her cheeks burned red as she started running after Megumi.

In her rush, she accidentally tripped over a little girl.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry!" stuttered Kaoru.

"That's okay," the girl replied as she pulled herself up and looked in Kaoru's direction, making the woman gasp.

The girl had plain black hair that nearly reached the ground and skin so perfect she looked like a porcelain doll, but there was something even stranger about the young girl. Her eyes were covered with a white film, in other words, she was blind.

"I'm Chika! Who are you?" asked the girl.

"Kamiya Kaoru," Kaoru replied softly.

Chika smiled and said, "That's a nice name! You think you could come play with me some time?"

At that very moment a woman in her mid-twenties that greatly resembled Chika, but she had visible brown eyes, pushed her way through the crowd towards them both and shouted, "Chika! You shouldn't run off like that, you know you can't see!" She then turned to Kaoru while saying, "I thank you for watching her a bit, but we should be going home. I'm Aya, by the way." Aya then took Chika's hand and walked off, leaving Kaoru behind her.

"Poor girl, being blind at such a young age," she whispered, feeling a bit better and momentarily forgetting about Kenshin before running after Megumi.

=With Sanosuke=

The tall man had just left the envelope of money on the table in the Kamiya Dojo before walking outside and kept going, not exactly sure of his destination.

Eventually he came to the graveyard and was standing in front of Kenshin's tombstone.

"Why'd you have to die and leave us all alone here, dammit!" shouted Sanosuke as he punched the stone, smashing it to pieces. The stone shards hit the ground all the way up to twenty feet away due to the force of the blow.

Sanosuke then started walking out of the cemetery and towards the forest, tears slowly forming in his eyes out of sadness and guilt.

=End Chapter 2=

A/N: So, good? Bad? Ugly? Please review and tell me, and I still want you to try and find out what nationality Borislav and Nobu are and what their names mean. Also, before I get people shouting at me because of OCs, Chika and Aya are the last ones I am planning to put in, and they do have a point later in the story.


	4. Convulsions and Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; Saitoh shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds himself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed, you all are great!

=Chapter 3=

The apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin style was practicing with his bokuto in the backyard of the Kamiya Dojo. It was early in the morning, dew still littering the ground, and no one else was awake.

Lately, Yahiko's slumber had been troubled more than everyone else's and he was constantly trying to stay up at night, but the irregular sleep was taking its toll on him.

"I...have to keep...going...," said the boy between gasps, "I won't...fall asleep...I won't!" With renewed energy Yahiko slashed continually at the air in front of him, putting so much force into his swings that a whistling sound broke the morning silence with every swing.

Eventually the physical exertion was too much for Yahiko's small body and he was forced to cease his exercise so he sat down.

"I hate this....," he muttered. All of the sudden, the early morning sunlight disappeared and a thin rain cascaded down towards the earth. "Dang it!" Yahiko ran back towards the dojo entrance and had just hopped onto the porch as the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour and lightning ripped across the sky.

The boy sat down and watched the rain while the anger he had been holding from the day before boiled to the breaking point.

"Why the hell did you have to die, Kenshin?! You left us all here alone! Sanosuke won't talk to anyone and left to who knows where, Kaoru's crying herself to sleep at night, Megumi's trying to hide everything, and I-I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE!"

Huge tears ran down Yahiko's face unbidden.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO AND DIE, DAMMIT?! YOU'RE KILLING US, KENSHIN! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?! DO YOU WANT US TO JOIN YOU?!" He then fell to the ground and his body started shaking with the racking sobs.

"Yahiko...," Kenshin muttered as he instinctively reached out to comfort the boy. But, as one would expect, as soon as his hand made contact with the boy's shoulder, it went through the boy.

However, Yahiko's reaction was completely unexpected. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his legs gave way and he fell to the floor, and he started having violent spasms. Kenshin watched the boy helplessly.

"What-how did I-what the....?" stuttered the red-haired swordsman, "What happened?!"

At that very moment Kaoru ran out, having been awoken by Yahiko's screaming. She was still pulling her hair out of her face so she could see properly before she saw her apprentice. "Yahiko!" shouted the woman as she fell to her knees and tried to stop the boy's spasms, "What's wrong? What happened to you?! Yahiko?! YAHIKO?!"

=End Chapter 3=

A/N: I know it's shorter than most, but this chapter does have a point. It shows that Kenshin can not touch any of his old friends even if it is only to comfort them. Yes, I'm evil. I'm also in a bad mood. I do that a lot nowadays, but can you blame me? I'm going to be the oldest of SEVEN kids in early January and my father is still stuck in Louisiana for a whole year because he's in the army! (coughs) Okay, that's enough ranting. Go ahead and yell at me for the shortness.


	5. Guilt and Anger

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: My dad left for Louisiana again, so I've got nothing better to do but update. Monkey-fairy, thank you so much! And Firegal777, that's an interesting reason to update....Works for me!

-Chapter 4-

Kaoru continued shaking the boy without receiving a response. "Yahiko, what is wrong with you?!" she whispered fiercely. Then doing the only logical thing she could think of, Kaoru picked up Yahiko and started running towards the clinic through the pounding rain. Of course, she didn't know that a guilty Kenshin was following her.

"Why does my touch hurt that much....?"

-Clinic-

"I'm not sure what's wrong with him!" shouted Megumi as she led Kaoru out of the room where Dr. Genzai was struggling to hold the still-convulsing Yahiko to a table, "Was there anything different last night or this morning?!"

"Well, we just had rice for dinner as usual before going to bed, and just earlier another thunderstorm started up.... Maybe the lightning had something to do with it, but with all the continuous storms going on I have no clue why he should react differently...." Kaoru whispered back as she went deep in thought.

Megumi just replied hotly, "There has to be some cause for it. You're just missing something, you stupid girl. I don't even know what Sir Ken ever might have seen in you!" The fox lady then walked off, leaving the poor girl alone.

"I'm a failure!" thought Kaoru as tears welled up in her eyes and she thought, "What kind of person am I? I can't even take care of my own apprentice!"

Kenshin floated in mid-air viewing the scene and when Kaoru started to weep, he felt sorry for the woman, but his pity was soon replaced with hatred for Megumi. "How dare she make her cry!" he thought as a small hint of amber appeared in his eyes, "How dare she......"

Kaoru then ran out of the clinic and headed in the direction of her dojo through the pounding rain. The red-headed samurai 'dashed' off after her with a worried look on his face.

After nearly five minutes the girl stopped running and collapsed on the dirt road to the left of the forest and started sobbing greatly. Some lightening ripped across the darkened sky that caused Kaoru to jump but it wasn't because of the storm alone.

The sudden light had illuminated the woods to her right, and had also revealed a tall human figure standing in it....with bright wolf-like eyes....and the metallic gleam of a sword....

-End Chapter 4-

A/N: I know these are short, but I can only get on the computer on the weekends for an hour or two each day. Half that time I use to e-mail some of my friends so if I want a chapter up every week, they are going to be smaller than other stories. And nobody has guessed yet what nationality Borislav and Nobu were! See if you can find the meaning of their names too.

I will try to update again tomorrow or Sunday, but only if you review!


	6. The Sight of the Blind

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: I've been stuck watching an Inuyasha music video called "Now or Never". I actually didn't feel like writing this until I heard it again! If you all want, I'll post the web address on my bio page. Just tell me you want it in a review.

Now, for the reviewer responses! You're all the only reason I keep updating this!

XxSilentxDreamerxX: I'll check out that story whenever I get the time, it sounds really good! And your other stories are good too. Are you ever going to update them or are you stuck with Writer's Block? (glares at the evil block right next to her, which in turn blows a raspberry) O.o Who ever knew those things had mouths?!

Firegal777: I'm glad your happy, and here's the next part!

arisu-twilight: YOU BETTER UPDATE YOUR HARRY POTTER STORY BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO UPDATE THIS AGAIN UNTIL YOU DO! But of course I'll keep writing this for the _other_ nice people that have reviewed so I can do a major update for them. You know I'm subborn enough to keep that promise....

-Chapter 5-

Kaoru sat in the mud paralyzed with fear at what she had just seen, but after a few seconds when nobody came out of the forest, she relaxed and took several deep breaths before attempting to stand up.

"What was that?" she thought before noticing her kimono, which was now covered in fresh mud, "Why'd I have to fall there?" Kaoru then looked up in the sky and saw that, if it was possible, the rain was pounding even harder and faster to the ground then before.

"Damn it!" shouted the woman before running towards her dojo.

Kenshin, however, stayed behind and continued looking in the forest. "That looked like Saitoh...." he whispered before a strange noise met his ears. It sounded like a small child shouting as loud as they could (which wasn't very loud because of the rain) and it was coming from the middle of the forest. Being the helpful man he was Kenshin flew towards the sound after one last look at where Kaoru had ran.

The crying grew increasingly louder as he approached. A clearing came into view and there were two figures unrecognizable in the rain. One was very tall and lying eagle-spread on their stomach on the ground while the other was noticeably smaller and sitting by a tree.

On closer inspection the figure on the ground was revealed to be Sanosuke and the person by the tree was the girl Kaoru had met at the market, Chika. However, there was also a lot of blood covering both of them.

Kenshin drifted over quickly and looked hard at his tall friend trying to find any injuries or movements with his eyes. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he saw that Sanosuke's chest was still rising and falling with his rough breathing. The redheaded samurai then looked over at the girl and was shocked to see that her eyes didn't have a thin film on them, and she was looking straight at him.

"You were with that lady, weren't you? Kamiya Kaoru?" she asked with her big brown eyes looked directly at his face before she wiped some tears away from her eyes, "How come you don't touch the ground? And why does the rain go through you?" Chika was about to ask another question but a lightening bolt ripped across the sky and interrupted her. When the following thunder arrived the girl jumped up and ran right at Kenshin but she didn't go through him. Chika latched herself onto his waist and was shaking uncontrollably from fright, not from touching Kenshin.

The man's eyes grew wide as he stared at the young girl. "How can you touch me?" he asked in awe, "Nobody can touch me…. I'm _dead_…."

Chika then shouted over the wind that had been slowly picking up speed, "You are?! What's that?!"

"Well....It's kind of like...When your body stops working...." stuttered Kenshin, not exactly sure if he should tell the little girl what death really was. Then he remembered that both she and Sanosuke were covered in blood and he yelled, "Why is so much blood on you both?! Who injured you?!"

Chika just blinked. "Both?" she asked innocently, "Who's the other person?"

"The man lying down right next to us!" he shouted back, confused that she couldn't see the person that was obviously there.

"I don't see anything but you!"

"Nothing?!"

"No! Well, I did see some other people before, but they all said that they were this 'dead' thing too!"

"So you can see dead people?!"

"That's what you said you are!"

-End Chapter 5-

A/N: I tried to make it a little longer for all you wonderful reviewers! And if you want, you can go to Arisu's home page and check out some of her stuff too! Just make sure you tell her to go and update her Harry Potter fanfic so I update this one.

Sayonara!


	7. Confusion

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: If you're reading this, that means that Arisu hasn't updated her Harry Potter fanfiction. SHE DELETED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gr....... I'm going to be nice and put this chapter up....then I'm gonna kill Arisu at school.....

Reviewer Responses:

sessinu girl: Thanks, and that's a cool penname! (It's obvious where it came from.)

Monkey-fairy: Just tell me what's confusing and I'll try to explain it.

Firegal777: Thank you! I love your reviews!

Scarlet Heir: I'm glad you do! Thanks for the review!

-Chapter 6-

Kenshin stood there holding the little girl, who jumped every time a flash of lightning appeared, before asking, "If I led you to a house, would you be able to give some people a message for me? I'd really appreciate it."

"Ummm, okay! Where do you want me to go?" asked the little girl.

"Just follow me," Kenshin replied as he picked up the girl and started dashing towards the clinic.

"I just hope we'll make it in time.... Sano didn't look very good.... "thought the swordsman as he kept running.

-Kamiya Dojo-

Kaoru had finally arrived home after about ten minutes of straight running. Even if she didn't show it, the figure in the forest had seriously frightened her. "If only Kenshin were still here, I wouldn't have to worry about people hurting us...." she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

After a few seconds the tears that she had been holding back since that morning started falling down upon her cheeks and were washed off with the rain. If it was even possible the rain plunged even harder towards the earth and had so much momentum that it felt like knives stabbing into one's skin.

Kaoru just sat there in the mud as the water beat down on her back and the tears kept streaking across her face.

She didn't care.

She didn't care about anything now.

-Clinic-

"Any changes, Doctor Genzai?"

"No. I'm sorry that I can't find what's wrong with the poor boy, but there's nothing I can do but pray that Yahiko's condition changes."

Megumi watched the aged man walk around a corner before the first tear that she let fall since the funeral fell. "We're all falling apart...." she whispered to the empty room, "Ever since he died nothing has gone right...."

A boy's shout rang out through the clinic, shattering the silence.

"HE'S HERE! I KNOW HE'S HERE!" Yahiko literally burst through a door and started looking everywhere with fearful eyes.

"Y-Yahi-Get back in your room!" Megumi yelled at him in shock, "What are you screaming about?!"

"HE'S HERE! SAITOH'S HERE! HE'S GONNA KILL EVERYBODY!" The boy then fell over, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he started convulsing again. Sweat coated his already drenched features and plastered his hair to his head.

Several of the doctor's, having heard the shouting, had run towards the source. They stopped Yahiko's arms from flailing around and helped him into his patient's bed. Megumi tied his arms to his side with a few soft bandages and did the same with his legs so the boy couldn't hurt himself. The doctors then dismissed themselves and left closely followed by the fox lady who was busy in her own thoughts.

"What did he mean that Saitoh is here and going to kill us all?"

-With Someone Else-

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. It seemed that I was in a small clearing in some forest. There was rain too, and the tree branches took most of the pressure, but there was still a lot of the water landing on me.... Kami, it feels like knives stabbing right going into my skin and wounds. How'd I get those again?

Oh yeah.

It was Saitoh.

-End of Chapter 6-

A/N: I know it's short. Just please bear with me! I'm trying to let you all see what's happening to everyone due to Kenshin dying. And somebody, try to guess what importance Aya (Chika's mother) will have in the story. I want to know if anyone can already guess it already.


	8. Seeing the Enemy

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: Arisu is still not sending me her story. I guess I'll update anyway.

Reviewer Responses:

Monkey-fairy: Thank you so much! I'll try and make some of the other chapters longer for you!

Tsubasa-667: Hey, sorry about the cliffhanger! ...I'm also sorry that there is another one at the end of the chapter. Two, in fact. (If you don't understand what I mean, read the chapter and find out!)

-Chapter 7-

Sanosuke slowly pulled himself up onto his feet and gingerly fingered the long sword cut that was placed right on the side of his stomach. He had several other wounds, including a sore jaw and a small cut on his lower right leg that was slowly oozing blood.

"Damn," muttered the man as he surveyed the small clearing he was in, "He better not have hurt that little blind girl..." He then started limping in the direction he thought the road was.

The rain continued to cover everything with an eerie mist as Sanosuke disappeared into the shadows of the trees, blood staining the ground in his wake.

-Road between the Dojo and the Clinic-

To any passerby walking around in the thunderstorm for heaven knows why, they would have suddenly had to stare at the strange apparition in front of them.

A young girl standing in the middle of the road was staring at the opposite side of the path she was on. Looking right at a figure much taller then her, with eyes of a wolf and a sword in his hand.

"How is it that a child such as yourself can manage to avoid my blade?!" shouted the man angrily, but with a hint of covered confusion.

"'Cause Kenshin won't let you!" the girl yelled back.

Saitoh (Come on, you knew it was him) glared at the small child and said calmly, "Battosai is dead. Everyone in Tokyo knows that."

"He said he was dead."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Saitoh continued, "Do you not know the meaning of being dead?!"

"Oh...she knows...she knows more then you might think..." 

The man froze and his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing once again, and he whispered out one word before running off.

"Battosai."

-Kamiya Dojo: Kaoru's POV-

Maybe this is where I belong, on the ground, away from everyone else, cast aside. After all, it is my fault that Kenshin died. Borislav was trying to attack _me_. He was trying to kill me, not Kenshin! Why did he have to save me?! If he hadn't then I would be the one dead and everything would have remained normal!

He was the one that brought us together, and he was the one that kept it that way. Now because he is gone we are all falling apart.

Why did he have to stop Borislav from killing me?! It was what I deserve for being the cause of everyone's grief and misery!

I loved you Kenshin!

* * *

For the past week, nothing seemed to have gone right in Tokyo. The swordsman that had protected them had been killed, his friends whom were well known for their kindness and hospitality had been going deeper into depression and shut themselves away from the world, several people had gone missing in the middle of the night. Their bodies had been found later on the outskirts of town. 

Indeed, nothing had gone right. On a more personal note, I have lost my only job, found that my husband has run away with a younger woman, and now I can't even get enough food for both my child and me.

One of us is going to die, and I don't plan to.

-End Chapter 7-

A/N: Kaoru's having a mental breakdown now, ooh, I'm evil aren't I? At least I updated fast.

See if you can guess whose POV the last part of this chapter was about.

Also, if you're unhappy that my chapters are so short, are really curious, impatient, or just hate me, here is a preview of what is going to happen later in the fic:

_Kaoru slowly turned and saw only the glint of metal in the moonlight before shutting her eyes, knowing that the person was going to end her life then and there._

_However, the death blow never came, and in its place was a shout, "What in seven hells is going on?!"_

_She slowly opened her eyes, only to be met with a sight that made her legs collapse from underneath her._

_The man that had tried to kill her then shouted, "So, the old woman didn't lie! Battosai is back!"_


	9. Return of the Battosai

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: I'm sorry about the cliffhangers, everyone!

animeinsomniac: Sorry about the short chapter, but I'm a perfectionist (in some things). I normally start typing a chapter but decide that I took the wrong approach at the beginning and start over again. Also, if you don't like them, I won't give you any more previews!

Tsubasa-667: If you're ever confused on something, just tell me which part it is and I'll try to explain it for you.

neko-chan: I'M SORRY! EVERYBODY, I'LL MAKE MY CHAPTERS LONGER! And right now I have a three-day weekend so I'll have more time to work on it, when my grandmother isn't trying to explain to me how to crochet a sweater.

Aikawarazu Ai: Aya's part in the story is in this chapter, and you were the only one to guess whose POV it was in! You got it right to! Borislav IS Scandinavian/Russian/whatever you want to call it (nothing insulting, please. I'm part Russian too.) but Nobu isn't. I've posted the link to the site on my bio page if you want to see it, but most of the music videos on that don't work for me. They've got some Rurouni Kenshin music videos on that too...and a complete romance one...;

-**_Return of the Battosai_**-

Somewhere, a lone figure walked through the shadowed alleys of Tokyo. An icy wind ripped across their skin as the pale crescent moon hung in the sky overhead, the only light in the whole area.

After a few minutes of walking, the person ducked into a small opening in the back of a house. They were met with the voice of an old woman.

"What brings one here this late at night?"

-Elsewhere-

Kaoru jerked up into a sitting position in her bed, panting heavily with sweat dripping down her face.

"No.... Kenshin...." she muttered. Her body started shaking with the rapid sobs that followed. "It was all a dream.... just a dream.... he's gone.... he wouldn't do that.... again...."

Her thoughts were plagued by the dream she just had:

_She was standing in the middle of a small clearing in the forest. There were no lights, no moon or stars in the dark of night. There appeared to be several other figures with her._

_Walking closer to some lying on the ground, she gasped out loud and clasped her hands to her mouth. There were Sanosuke and Yahiko lying on the ground. _

_Dead. Their blood littered the ground around them._

_Not too far away Kaoru saw several other bodies. "Megumi? Dr. Genzai?!" she almost shouted in horror, "What happened here?!" _

_Suddenly two arms circled around her from behind and held her tightly to someone's chest. She tried to pull away but the limbs clutched onto her harder until her arms nearly felt like they were going to fall off._

Then, without warning, the person quickly spun her around so their faces were only an inch apart. Recognition dawned in Kaoru's eyes as she stared fearfully at the man holding her.

_He had the familiar clothes, long red hair, and cross-shaped scar, but there was something very different about him now. In place of his gentle violet eyes there were glowing amber orbs. His face and clothes were speckled with blood. _

_Twisting slightly to her left Kaoru saw Kenshin's reverse blade sword in his right hand, but it was coated with blood._

"_You know, a sword still has a sharp side, no matter which side it is..." the monster whispered into her ear, "Any blade that has any edge can still kill..." _

_Kaoru's eyes grew wide and she shouted, "You're not Kenshin! He'd never kill anyone, least of all his friends!" then she lowered her eyes and muttered, "He's dead anyway."_

"_Yes, I suppose you could say that," replied the monster with a smirk, "but I'm afraid you don't fully understand what powers are at work in this world and the next."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?! Kenshin's dead, you killed everyone else, and let go of me!" Kaoru shouted as she tried to pull away again and the Kenshin look-alike allowed her to run away a bit._

_Right before the young woman had run into the forest surrounding her, the man seemed to materialize right out of the shadows of the trees. Kaoru then started running in a different direction and the person yet again appeared in front of her, walking out from under the shadows._

"_What are you?!" she shouted before backing up slowly as her breathing steadily increased._

"_Don't you already know?" the man said in a taunting voice before disappearing and reappearing right behind her again. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her stomach and shoulders, pinning her arms to her side. "I'm the part of Kenshin that you've seen before. The one he was during the revolution. Battosai. And I'm the only one of the two of us that is going to survive this 'test' we are going through."_

_He smirked as Kaoru stiffened in his arms. "I'm the only one that is going to come back to you," he whispered harshly into her ear, "My other side isn't going to exist anymore..."_

* * *

The little blind girl named Chika was simply standing in her backyard in the middle of the day. She looked around with unseeing eyes before squealing in delight and running over towards a corner of her mother's modern fence. Chika jumped into midair and appeared to be hugging someone and being held up from the ground by the same invisible person. 

"You came back!" shouted the energetic child, "I'm so happy!"

Kenshin gave the girl a grim grin and told her, "I had to come back to thank you. Sanosuke would have died if you hadn't told Megumi where he was." Chika grinned up at him and pulled a lock of his red hair. "Hey! That hurt!" the man shouted, but with more laughter in his voice then before.

"Yay, you're happy now! Will you play with me?" the girl said almost too fast to understand.

"I suppose...what do you want to pl-is that your mother coming?!" Kenshin immediately lowered the child to the ground before her mother saw her 'floating'.

Chika stood there, waiting for her mother to walk over to the side of the backyard she was on.

The woman, Aya, took her time going over to her daughter and kept glancing around the fenced yard. Kenshin thought he might have seen a glint of metal from her kimono and his eyes narrowed.

"Honey, what are you doing out here?" asked Aya as she uncovered the knife she had been holding. The red haired samurai reflexively stepped in front of the small girl and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case. Aya then continued by saying, "I told you there were people being kidnapped and killed all around town!"

Kenshin relaxed. "Of course," he thought, "She is only carrying a dagger to defend herself in case of attack. That must have been why she was looking around after she left the house."

Aya walked over and put her hand on her child's shoulder. "How would you like to leave Tokyo?" she asked in a small voice.

"Huh?"

"Would you like to leave Tokyo?" the woman asked again.

"No!" Chika yelled, horrified, "Everybody's so nice and I made some new friends!"

"I'm sorry, daughter, you're leaving Tokyo."

"What? Why do I have to go?" asked the girl, then, "Wouldn't you come with me?"

"No. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Chika," Aya said before a sadistic smile flitted across her face and she lifted the knife above the girl's head, "Goodbye!" The mad woman pulled the weapon down and stabbed her child in the left shoulder before Kenshin could stop her.

Chika cried out in pain and grabbed her shoulder right after her mother pulled the knife out. Aya was just about to stab the poor girl again but Kenshin was ready that time.

He grabbed the child and ran over towards a different side of the fenced yard. Aya ran towards them and had her knife ready to stab into Chika. The samurai took out his sword and knocked the small blade out of her hand.

"What kind of devilry is this?!" shouted Aya, enraged, as she backed up a few steps and looked around warily, "What demon haunts me?!"

"One that will take your life..." Kenshin had whispered without realizing it had slipped past his lips. His eyes were glowing an odd amber color. Aya's eyes widened and she ran over towards her fallen knife.

"I don't think so," said the samurai as he ran right over in front of the dagger and put his sword straight in front of him where Aya could run into it without even knowing. A sadistic smirk seemed to creep onto his normally kind features as the woman drew near.

In Chika's eyes Kenshin was just standing there several feet with his sword in the strangest pose possible. All of the sudden, there was a sickening squishing sound and the long blade was coated with a blood red substance.

-End Chapter 8-

A/N: I CANNOT BELEIVE IT! THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER! Please review, even if all you tell me is 'Well it's about time you made a chapter this long!'. I'd get a kick out of it and start laughing hysterically.


	10. Revealing the Dead

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?

A/N: This is my longest story ever! I'm so happy you all like it!

Reviewer Responses:

animeinsomniac: Thanks.

Tsubasa-667: Yeah, I just HAD to put the squish in. I'm a freaky person.

kenshinluver: Borislav is Russian. Nobody has gotten what Nobu is yet...

monkey-fairy: I'm trying to type as much as I can on the weekends, so don't get your hopes up about me updating more during the week. As much as I would love to live for fanfiction (really, I wish for this everyday), my parents are determined to get me to be the top student in all my classes. I HATE science right now...But I do like the cookies!

-**_Revealing the Dead_**-

Kenshin still had the sadistic smirk on his face as he lowered the tip of his sword, allowing Aya's body to slide off and collapse on the ground with a sickening crunch.

Almost like Mother Nature was mourning for the lost soul of a poor woman that had unfortunately fallen into madness a mist-like rain slowly fell from the now-dark sky. All traces of the bright sun that had been there only moments before had diminished.

Chika was still standing there looking at Kenshin expectantly. The man flung his sword around and the red substance disappeared. He then slowly and determinedly walked over and picked the bleeding girl up.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" asked Chika innocently.

Kenshin gave her a small grin to comfort her and replied, "Nothing's wrong with my eyes. Would you like to go visit your old friend? Kamiya Kaoru?"

The child nodded energetically and smiled widely. Kenshin took off, jumping over the low fence and kept going down an alley.

* * *

Kaoru had slowly recovered from her disturbing dream, had eaten a (burnt) breakfast, and left to visit the clinic. "Any changes with any of them, Megumi?" she asked as soon as she walked in the door.

"Nothing except Sanosuke's wounds finally starting to close up. It was a wonder he limped all this way in the rain without dying from blood loss," replied the woman, "Why don't you go bother someone else and leave me alone, you silly girl?"

Kaoru hung her head and walked out of the clinic doors again and out into the mist-like rain that had started several minutes ago.

Her thoughts drifted back to the morning Yahiko first started having his 'fits'. She still had no idea what had caused them went a strange notion came to her mind. "It was cold that morning...a little colder then it should be on a summer morning..." thought Kaoru as her brow furrowed in confusion, "And there was that feeling...like something freezing brushing against my back a few times..."

The woman was so deeply engulfed in her thoughts; she hadn't realized that she had already in sight of the Kamiya Dojo. Kaoru stopped as soon as she looked up. "Chika?" she asked cautiously, "What are you...how can you...floating...is your shoulder bleeding?!"

The girl hanging in midair nodded slightly, her eyes squinted in pain. "My mommy hurt me," cried the child as a few tears fell down her face. An unseen hand then wiped the droplets of water away. Kaoru noticed this but started edging towards the girl. Her protectiveness for the helpless overcame her nervousness about her own protection.

"You poor thing," muttered Kaoru after she reached over and touched Chika's shoulder, receiving a wince in return, "You come on inside and we'll fix you up." The woman reached her other arm towards the child and took her in her own arms before walking into the Kamiya Dojo.

Battosai stood there staring emotionlessly as the females left, but a small smile that was only there a second had left its mark upon his face.

-Later-

"There!" Kaoru exclaimed proudly as she finished wrapping the cleaned wound. Noticing the look on Chika's face she then asked, "Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes, please," said the girl as a large grin erupted onto her features, "I'm very hungry!"

Kaoru put on an apron she pulled off a nail in the wall and muttered, "Then it's a good thing Kenshin taught me how to cook rice balls properly."

"I know a Kenshin!" Chika piped up.

Kaoru gave a hollow laugh as she started gathering the ingredients she would need. "I doubt you know the Kenshin I know," she said in a voice void of emotion, "He's dead, carried around a reverse-blade sword, had bright red hair, and a cross shaped scar on his cheek."

"That's who I know! He's the one who brought me here!"

The sound of a pan clattering to the ground echoed through the house.

-End Chapter 9-

A/N: I know this one was shorter than the last, but I thought you might want to read it sooner because I keep giving you evil cliffhangers. And if any of you are still trying to figure out what the people's names mean, everyone except Borislav (including Nobu) are Japanese.


	11. Preparing

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

A/N: End of my three day weekend. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Reviewer Responses:

Aikawarazu Ai: Glad you liked that and the link and thanks for the compliment!

Brittanie Love: Here's the update.

monkey-fairy: I LOVE updating! Of course, I do have a life. I just love fanfiction! (I also liked the cookies again!)

Tsubasa-667: Kaoru's a little strange to me. It's just that it makes it all the more interesting to write about! Of course, she had already met Chika before.

-Preparing-

Battosai watched the scene before him unfold from his perch on the counter with increasing interest.

"How could you know Kenshin?" Kaoru asked Chika in a small voice, "He's dead."

"He said he was dead," replied the blind child with an innocent look on her face. She then stared at the counter with her unseeing eyes. "He's sitting on the counter right now!"

The woman looked over at the counter with hopeful eyes but dropped her head back to the rice balls she had started making. "Kenshin's dead. I learned a while ago that there's nothing I can do about that," she whispered almost to herself, "There's nothing I can do." Kaoru felt the tears coming as she took the food and set it on a plate to cool, so she walked a bit aways until Chika wouldn't be able to hear her.

The traitorous liquid started seeping out the corners of her closed eyes. After it started as a small trickle the tears drew her to racking sobs. As Kaoru's body shook she thought she felt unseen arms circle around her and her dream came rushing back:

"_Don't you already know?" the man said in a taunting voice before disappearing and reappearing right behind her again. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her stomach and shoulders, pinning her arms to her side. "I'm the part of Kenshin that you've seen before. The one he was during the revolution. Battosai. And I'm the only one of the two of us that is going to survive this 'test' we are going through."_

_He smirked as Kaoru stiffened in his arms. "I'm the only one that is going to come back to you," he whispered harshly into her ear, "My other side isn't going to exist anymore..."_

The woman stiffened like she did in her dream before pulling out of the cold embrace and going straight to the wall so she would have something to lean on. Kaoru slid down the wood and stayed in a crouched position with her wide eyes and erratic breathing.

* * *

Saitoh ducked out of the small doorway and turned around before asking, "You sure it will work?"

"I'm positive," the old woman replied in a ragged voice, her crouched figure hidden by the shadows her lone candle cast around the room, "I've dealt with ghosts before. Just make sure you go there in three days. That's the night of the full moon."

* * *

Megumi was doing her evening check to make sure all the patients would be okay during the night when she walked into Sanosuke's room and her eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing out of bed?! You still need your rest!" she demanded in her no-nonsense tone.

"Saitoh's going to come back, Megumi," the tall man muttered as he pulled his large white shirt on, "He's going to come back to kill everybody now that Kenshin is gone, and I have to be ready."

"But you can't go now! You're hurt and your wounds haven't healed yet!" Megumi shot at him, horrified.

"I'm fine," replied Sanosuke as he pushed the woman out of the way gently so he could leave the room, "Maybe it's luck or maybe there's something else at work here, but I have no more wounds. They all disappeared last night." He pointed at his stomach. "Do you see any more blood?" he continued, "There's nothing stopping me from leaving now. Not even you could."

Megumi then set her face in a hard look. "If you're lying to me I am going to poison you," said she, "But you can't stop me from coming with you." The fox woman picked up her coat she had put on a chair, threw it on her back, and followed Sanosuke out the door.

-End Chapter-

A/N: Yeah, well, I thought you might like one more. I might be too busy to type much during the next week or so and I didn't want to leave you all with an evil cliffhanger but I have, haven't I?

Please Review!


	12. Nothing

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

A/N: I am an idiot. (hits head on the wooden computer desk repeatedly) I couldn't get this chapter typed up no matter how hard I tried. I have nothing to blame but my own stupidity. I'm sorry, everyone.

-Nothing-

The woman slowly walked around her large house and sat equally slowly under a large tree in her backyard. She watched the increasingly powerful rain hit the leaves and gradually fall towards the ground.

With a slender hand, she brushed her dampened hair behind her left ear.

The woman continued staring at the sodden mud growing around her before sleep overtook her, and brought with it the blissfulness of the subconcious.

--

Megumi stared at the back of the tall man a few steps in front of her, lost in her own thoughts.

"I don't understand what's going on!" her mind screamed at her, "Saitoh's trying to kill everybody, but why? He always wanted to kill Kenshin and now he's gone. Why doesn't he leave us here alone in our grief? Can't he let us mourn in peace and stop reminding everyone of what we have lost?" Something about those wordsjogged the woman's mind and a memorycame to mind...:

_"Megumi-kun, take the patients some water will you? They'll all get dehydrated in this heat if somebody doesn't do so," said the small girl's mother as she worked on making lunch for both her family and their clients, "There is already a bucket filled with water outside that has been boiled and cooled so there are no remnants of possible contagious diseases. You can use that."_

_"Alright, mommy," the child replied before skipping outside, grabbing the side of the bucket, and lugging the large wooden contraption inside the enormous building. Megumi went to the first room and slid the shoji open slightly. "Hideaki-san, are you awake yet?" she whispered, her eyes watching the figure in the futon for any kind of movement, "I've brought some water for you if you're thirsty."_

_"I'll have some," replied a gruff male voice that was slightly strained. The girl smiled brightly as she pushed the shoji door fully open and dragged thefilled bucket to the sick man's bedside. She spied his metal cup on the other side of his futon and happily skipped around him to get it before skipping back and dunking the mug into the water to fill it up. The metal cup was then placed by the man's head._

_"There you go!" Megumi said quite proudly because she didn't spill anything, "Do you need anything else?"_

_"I'll be fine," was the only reply. The girl just nodded and dragged her bucket off to another room._

_When the water was almost gone, Megumi reached the last door. "Amaya-san, I have some water for you!" the girl almost sang as she pushed the shoji open wide. She blinked twice before realizing that the person standing at the window,_ smiling_, was the woman named Amaya. _

_It wasn't the fact that she was standing or looking out the window that was odd, most of the patients at Megumi's family's hosiptal did that. It was that the woman was smiling. For as long as she could remember, which was four months, Megumi had never seen the woman smile. There was normally either a pained or faraway look on her face with her mouth drawnin a taut line. The small child had always thought it was only the fact that the woman was sick with some sort of dreadful disease, that was, until she heard her elder sisters talking about poor Amaya. They said that shesuffered from something called a 'broken heart'._

_"That made no sense!" Megumi had thought at the time, 'No one could have their heart break and still be alive if what daddy says is true!"_

_Amaya unhurriedly turned away from the window to place her gaze on the young child, tearing her from her thoughts._

_"I saw Kazuko today..." the woman said so softly and so slowly that Megumi barely understood her._

_"But isn't Kazuko-san your husband? I thought he was dead!" the girl questioned without thinking._

_Amaya nodded as slow as the rest of her movements, not fazed by what most widows would burst into tears at hearing, before saying, "But he was here, I saw him. He came to visit me...he said I'll be able to be with him soon."_

_Megumi vaguely remembered thenext morning, whenher mother told her that Amaya had left the clinic, and had gone somewhere far, far away, and she would meet her again someday. She also said that that someday would hopefully be far, far away as well._

She knew now that Amaya had passed away in her sleep that night, but that brought about unpleasant thoughts about what might happen to Kaoru if she never stopped grieving for Kenshin. "I better keep a closer eye on that girl," muttered Megumi as she continued walking behind Sanosuke, "There's no telling what she might do."

* * *

Chika watched as Kenshin drifted through what most probably was a door way before turning to his right and disappearing, something that the girl recognized as what happened when a ghost was on the other side of a wall. She decided after a minute that he wasn't going to come back soon so she got down on her hands and knees and searched for a cushion that might be in this room. Most people had their table in the kitchen and she had realized earlier that she was in Kamiya Kaoru's kitchen after hearing all the cooking utensils banging together. Chika let out a squeal of delight as her hand touched a piece of cloth that felt like one of the cushions she was trying to find to rest on. 

Yet a moment later she gasped. Instead of finding a cushion, she had found a shoe.

A small prick on the back of her neck and all her thoughts went to nothing.

* * *

Saitoh looked down upon the unconcious blind girl with disgust. "She truely is a worthless creature," he thought, "The Battosai must have truely gone soft to actually consider keeping a thing like her alive." The man reached down and picked the child up by the back collar of her wet kimono and swiftly leaving the dojo.

There wasn't a single thing there that showed that a killer had entered the building, despite the fact that there was one less 'worthless' occupant occupying it.

* * *

A/N: Please review. I don't care if all you do is yell at me at my extreamelyslow updating. 


	13. Beginning of him

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

A/N: I hope the chapters get out faster then they have been... I'll try to make each chapter longer okay?

Reviewer Responses:

monkey-fairy: THANK YOU!

animeobsessed3191: Yeah, it took me about two months to finally remember what was supposed to happen in that chapter. Then it took about two hours of beating myself up if I started to do something else other then type this. Yeah...I'm just glad I got it up. At least my legs are...ouch...

Tsubasa-667: To kill her off or not to kill her off, that is the question.

-Beginning of Him-

Saitoh glimpsed at the unconscious blind girl lying in the shadows of the tree in front of him. He hated children, absolutely hated them. They couldn't do anything for themselves except make messes that would burden others, eat, and sleep. They were only curses sent from hell to torment people in his mind. This child was very lucky that Battosai had found her worth keeping around despite her obvious defects.

She would also be worth something to Saitoh if he just played his cards right.

The killer looked up into the night sky through the branches, and the full moon glared with all it could muster back at him. "Soon, Battosai," was what was muttered on what little wind dared to blow in the few last moments before midnight, "Just a little bit longer, and you will cease to exist."

* * *

Kaoru slowly dragged her heavy eyelids apart and looked around the room, not really seeing anything. She just had another weird dream that involved Kenshin, or more like, his darker side, Battosai. 

He hadn't been as cruel or uncaring as in her dream the previous night though. He just sort of stood there without doing anything for the majority of the time with a faraway look on his face. Just before she woke up did Battosai finally look at her and surprised Kaoru by what his face showed.

The expression was almost pained, as if he was struggling with what to say, yet his eyes were just as steely as ever. It seemed that he couldn't say anything after a bit and settled with just reaching out towards her and pulling her towards him in a tight embrace.

She remembered looking up at his face right before waking up and was shocked to see that Battosai was starting to turn transparent. After just a few minutes only his outline was left and Kaoru's fingers went right through him, as if he was no longer there, and only being kept by her imagination...

Kaoru shook her head to get the thoughts out of her mind. "It's useless to be thinking about him," she whispered to her surroundings which she still did not recognize, "He's dead and gone. My imagination won't bring him back, nor will anything else."

She then looked around in surprise and almost shouted, "Who brought me to my room?"

On the other side of the shoji a smirk crept onto the face of the one and only Battosai. She really was a fool wasn't she? But she was his fool, and that was good enough for him. Of course he had carried her out of the rain! Why would anyone leave someone they cared about outside to freeze to death?

Here he is, a ghost, thinking about death. How ironic.

The dead killer jumped andgrabbed the hilt of his swordwhen he heard the dojo's main door slam, but released his grip when he recognized the voices that rang out as Sanosuke's and Megumi's. The two individuals ran into the kitchen and were met with Kaoru who had run out of her room as soon as she heard them.

"Jou-chan," Sano gasped out, having sprinted the last only-heaven-know-how-far to the house, "Saitoh...he's coming...gonna...kill everyone...." The tall man collapsed onto the ground next to Megumi, who had fallen down almost as soon as she entered due to exhaustion. "...gonna kill everyone...tonight...already on his way...saw on the road...not much time..."

Kaoru dashed outside onto her porch, grabbed a bucket filled with water, and took it to her friends. "Now," she said after they drank from some mugs she had also grabbed, "Tell me what's going on."

The fox-lady decided to speak this time. "Saitoh was on the road behind us, heading towards the dojo. He also attacked Rooster head here earlier and gave him some deep cuts, but there was a young girl that was also attacked and we're safely assuming she's de-"

"Wait a minute, a girl? Oh no! I almost forgot about Chika!CHIKA!" Kaoru's voice rang out loud and clear, but the sound of a blind girl trying to get to them went unheard, "CHIKA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Happen to be looking for this?" a cold voice hissed out behind them and drew the three's attention. Their eyes locked onto the limp child held up by the back collar of her kimono. Megumi had a blank expression on her face (because she has no idea who the kid is) but the other two's eyes widened visibly and Kaoru gasped when Saitoh's sword was lifted up to Chika's neck. "If you care anything about her life you'll kindly step out into the front yard."

* * *

Battosai never thought he could hate anyone more then he hated himself after killing Tomoe, but Saitoh was coming dangerously close. Threatening a defenseless child's life was one of the lowest things a person could do. But he couldn't help but be curious as to why he would want Sano, Megumi, and Kaoru to go outside. Maybe it was because it would be easier to hide the dead bodies if he didn't leave blood and other unpleasant things people wouldn't want oozing out of their bodies coating the kitchenfloor. 

That thought made the killer's blood boil within his viens. He would _not_ stand by and watch his companions be killed! He never did it when he was alive, when he was his softer -more disgusting- side, and he wasn't going to start now.

Yet that also meant that he would have to make sure that Chika stayed in the world of the living. But how to kill Saitoh without inadvertently killing the girl in the process...? Battosai floated through the walls and out to where his friend's stood.

* * *

Saitoh glimped upwards at the night sky. Why wasn't the damn full moon showing it's stupid self already? He then lowered his gaze slightly and his eyes rested on the tree tops. Of course, why didn't he realize it before? Battosai didn't appear yet because the ray's had not yet come above the trees. Just a few more minutes, and it would all be over, for him and his pathetic friends. They would trouble Saitoh no longer. 

"What are you going to do to Chika?!" demanded Kaoru from at least ten meters away with her two acquaintances standing rigedly beside her.

"Nothing yet," replied the murderer, before adding to himself, "Just a bit longer..."

At that very moment the first rays of moonlight hit the dojo grounds, Kaoru gasped, Sanosuke stopped breathing, Megumi thought she was going insane, and Saitoh watched with a triumphant smirk.

Battosai just looked down at himself and his strangely lit outline. He supposed that the silverish lines were all that everyone else could see-wait, that means they could SEE him! And he was floating about ten feet in the air, _not good_. They might all faint or just think they're going crazy or something of the like. But that meant that Saitoh could see him, and that was not good either, considering that he probably planned this whole thing.

Holy heck, he was in trouble.

"Well, Battosai," said Saitoh, "Nice to see that you have the decency to show up even in death. Now..." The man dropped Chika and put his sword in front of him. "We shall truely see who is the better swordsman!"

Over with the three people now the 'audience', Sanosuke was trying to help a Kaoru who had zoned out. "Jou-chan, come on! That can not be Kenshin! I mean, just look at his eyes, and his sword is no longer a reverse-blade!" pointed out the fist-fighter.

"You're right. That's not Kenshin," Kaoru said as she stared at the ghost, "He's gone and not coming back. The only one that will return is Battosai." The word's from her dream several nights before seeped into her mind.

_"I'm the only one that is going to come back to you."_

_"My other side isn't going to exist anymore..."_

_"I'm the part of Kenshin that you've seen before." _

_"The one he was during the revolution."_

_"I'm the only one of the two of us that is going to survive this 'test' we are going through."_

"_Yes, I suppose you could say that, but I'm afraid you don't fully understand what powers are at work in this world and the next."_

"Battosai is back," is all that went through the poor woman's head.

* * *

The fool. Challenging one of the dead to a swordfight. There. If I leave an opening. Yes, he saw it. 

Now he's finally starting to understand that I can't be hurt. He practically wrote out the wholeplay without realizing that he could notbevictorious in the end and hassigned his own death upon the ground.

Even though he struck straight through my stomach I do not bleed. I cannot bleed. I have no blood. I am like the grim reaper themself, collecting those that should die soon and killing them all. Yes, he completely understands now. He realizes he's lost. And that look upon his face. Fear, pure fear. Terror. Utmost horror.

And thenhe runs off like a wounded animal. Running away from death.

* * *

A/N: Yes, well, I hope that the last part wasn't confusing. I'm trying to improve my writing style so it's easier to understand.

Review please!


	14. Disappearances

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me, everyone.

Naekino: The words running into each other is a standing problem. It's not only happening to me, but to several other authors here on fanfiction. I'm trying to get rid of it and didn't realize how bad it was. Thanks for pointing that out!

Everyone Else: I'm not ignoring you, but I really think I should get a move on with the chapter. Eh, heheh...

-Thoughts-

How the _hell_ could I have forgotten the chant! The old woman made sure I had it memorized like the back of my hand before I left her pathetic excuse for a home! Damn it all!

I have always taken the old saying 'never make someone else do it, they'll mess up', to heart,but I'm the one who messed up this time!

I'll just go and try tomorrow night. By then I'll have remembered the spell

* * *

Kaoru Kamiya watched with wide eyes as Saitoh ran off like a wounded animal avoiding a fight before her gaze shifted to the silverish outline of the man she loved. However, there was something different about him, his eyes, they were narrowed, like Battosai's. 

Yes. He was Battosai now. Kenshin wasn't coming back.

But...she _loved_ Kenshin! And she didn't know if Battosai even cared about her, or anyone!

Yet while all this is going on, it's like he's not really there. Just an outline of what once was. He's not really here. Just silver lines hanging in midair. It's all her imagination, and none of this was real.

She desperately wanted it to be the truth, but she knew it would never happen. This wasn't real.

How terribly mistaken she was.

* * *

This...this is...it's...incredible... 

There is no way Kenshin could be here, but he's standing _right there_. That could never happen if he was really absolutely dead. Wait...that's right...he couldn't be completely dead if we can see him at midnight of the full moon...

_"So, Sano, you wish to know what we were discussing earlier at dinner do you?" the young boy's father asked, his eyes crinkling at the edges with laughter, "Maybe tomorrow morning. You'd get scared and have nightmares."_

_"Will not!" shouted the child defiantly with his arms crossed and an attempt at a scowl on his young face._

_The man burst out laughing at his son's antics before saying, "If you think you can handle it, I suppose I could tell you. Just go change and get in bed." Sanosuke quickly complied and was done within a few minutes. "Alright," the man told his son, "As you might have heard, we were talking about Akio Samachi, the man who died last winter in the unexpected blizzard. May the gods have mercy on his soul, poor man, he still wanders the earth according to his son Daichi. The boy ran into the village half mad just two days ago. Said that he saw his father at midnight of the full moon and that he had told him that he was doomed to protect him for all eternity because that was his final wish."_

_"Why did he get a final wish?" Sanosuke interrupted, "Shouldn't his soul have gone to heaven?"_

_"Yes, that's what should have happened, however, before Akio had disappeared, Daichi asked that very same thing. Akio answered truthfully, finally being able to talk to his son and all, and he supposedly said something very disturbing."_

_"And what was that?"_

_"Those spirits that roam the earth like him, were all those that were thought to be dead and had been killed in battle. Yet, in truth they all died from suffocation after they were buried! Their loved ones were their true murderers!"_

Holy hell, what have we done?

* * *

All of the people present watched as the Battosai's silver outline began to fade. Kaoru's eyes grew dim as tears began falling down her face. Racking sobs shook her frail form. Megumi knelt down and put her arm around the distressed woman.

Sanosuke ran forward until he was in front of the disappearing apparition. "Kenshin! I have to know!" shouted the man, "Did you die from your wounds, or from something else!"

Battosai gave him a blank look in reply as he faded completely from sight.

"I have to know, dammit!" Sanosuke screamed to the night sky, "I need to know! I need to know...if it was my fault..."

* * *

A person watched the four figures curiously. What was with that silver one? He didn't really seem to be there and the others were all distressed.

What the...? The silver man disappeared? Now the other man is screaming, insanity maybe? Are all of them insane?

Here I am. Asking myself if others are insane, and I don't even know who I am myself.

I better get back to that building before any of thoseodd people realize that I'm gone.

The figure ran into the shadow of the trees, leaving not atrace of their presence.

* * *

A/N: I wanted this to be longer (hits herself) but it didn't work out that way. Sorry.

Please review anyway.


	15. All a Dream

Disclaimer: I lay no claim to Rurouni Kenshin. Leave me in peace.

A/N: I enjoy being weird. It's what I am and have been called my whole life. Well, that and bitch...don't even know why people call me that though...

All aDream-

I wonder...

Why had Sanosuke said that? Does it really matter how I had died?

But they know already. Why would they ask? Maybe he just wanted to know if death was painful or not.

That makes no sense! Why the hell would he ask that...unless...

Oh. My. God.

He couldn't have-they wouldn't-but they did-why-how did that-what in the world?

How could they...?

The man stood there invisible once more. His unseen facewas covered in shock and his mindbecameblank.

"How could they...

Kill me...?"

_It's so dark in here, absolutely no light. It's hot too._

_And wet. Wet and sticky. What is that?_

_Kenshin brought his hand, which was the easiest wet limb to move, up to his face. He couldn't see what was on it, so he tasted it a bit._

_Blood. They wet, sticky stuff was his blood. HIS blood. _

_He reached up and was surprised to find something that felt like strained wood only about three inches in front of his face. __All of the sudden, reality hit him like a ton of bricks falling straight from the sky._

_The wood creaked above him as the man's heart began to race._

_"No way..." he muttered, eyes wide and fearful, "There's no way that would happen!"_

_The wood creaked louder._

_"Oh, God, don't let it be true."_

_A sickening crack._

_"Don't let me be here. Let it all be a dream!"_

_Another crack, louder this time, reached the doomed figure's ears._

_The air was hotter now and Kenshin was having trouble breathing._

_He took one last, doomed,breath and muttered: _

_"Don't let me be in a coffin."_

_He closed his eyes, desperately hoping that there would be some divine intervention from heaven, or something, anything, anyone,to save him. _

_Kenshin knew he wouldn't be able to survive much longer..._

_The wood above him gave out._

_And with it, the swordsman's life._

Sanosuke jerked up in his futon in terror and took several deep breaths. 

By all that was holy, he didn't want to do that again. He NEVER wanted to do that again.

Why did they bury Kenshin! He hadn't been dead. Due to their stupidity, the legendary swordsman was no longer alive.

He had suffocated beneath the earth that he was buried in. The coffin's top wasn't strong enough to keep from breaking under the weight of the soil.

The man ran out of the Kamiya Dojo and onto the road that led into Tokyo. Several merchants who were getting their outdoor shops ready in the early hours of the morning saw him run by but didn't know why he seemed to be in such a rush.

Eventually, Sanosuke Sagara reached the cemetary on the opposite side of the city but didn't slow down. He kept running until he was in front of one certain burial place set on a hill and under what was once a sakura tree. The dead branches reached out towards heaven like a plea for help. The mud above the resting place seemed to sink into the earth, for it had, right into the coffin.

Sanosuke sat there staring at the grave all day. He couldn't accept the fact that it was his fault that Kenshin was dead. After all, he was the one that had wanted to get Kenshin buried quickly because Kaoru wouldn't stop crying and it became worse every time she saw the corpse.

No, he corrected himself, not corpse. Kenshin had been alive in a breathing, living body. HE HADDAMN WELL STILL BEEN ALIVE!

It was all his fault that his friend was no longer in the realm of the living. But should he leave the body down there, not in a coffin, but in the mud, more likely to rot? Shouldn't the swordsman have something better? A funeral service, a proper coffin?

Looking around the graveyard he was in he suddenly noticed how dark it was.

Sanosuke leaned down and started digging through the mud with his bare hands, the light of the full moon glowed eerily off of his back.

* * *

The boy watched the grown man on the hill from the shadow of the tree, wondering what was wrong. Maybe the man was a gravedigger, a tombthief, or perhaps he was insane? 

"No matter. He is of no concern to me. Now...to find something to eat..."

The boy walked out of the cemetary slowly, waiting until he exited the place of death to break out in a run.

* * *

Sanosuke leaned back on his mud-covered hands onto the wet earth. He was almost there, almost to where they had placed Kenshin's coffin. 

The man looked at the broken tombstone at the head of the grave. He remembered breaking it, in a burst of anger that Kenshin had left them all behind. The strange thing about it was that Sanosuke hadn't really thought the swordsman was dead until he broke the solemn stone. The truth of the occurence hadn't really sunk in. He had felt like he was in a foreign dream, no, a foreign nightmare, where everything that happened could be undone, but nothing could be done to help Kenshin except grieve.

He had still been waiting to wake up before he realized it wasn't a dream.

A gentle rain gently hit him and jerked him back into the present.

Sanosuke shook himself out of his thoughts and started digging through the mud again, getting ever closer to Kenshin's body.

The rain grew heavier and dark clouds covered the moon, making the scene look like it wasn't real, but one out of a dream, like it had been all a dream. However, Sanosuke knew better. Nothing was a dream anymore. Everything was reality. Cold, hard reality.

He didn't have dreams anymore.

* * *

A/N: I know I know, it's late. I had typed about 3/4 of it before my computer quit on me. DANG YOU, IDIOT COMPUTER! I just got angry and waited a while before I started typing it again.

If it isn't as good as your expectations, I understand. I just thought that people would want to know why Sanosuke wasn't so responsive to Kenshin's death earlier. Character development is always a good thing!

If you want a spoiler...read this next part backwards. If you don't, just skip it.

(.yllautneve efilotkcabemoclliwnihsneK)

Sayonara 'til next time.


	16. To Become Alive

A/N: School. Is. Finally. Out. HALLELUJIA!

To Become Alive...-

It's so strange to just sit, in a broken, withered tree, and watch your friends and all the crazy things they do. They could be going insane while you can't help them. They could be becoming a thief, murderer, or some other type of criminal while you can't talk them out of it.

Battosai watched Sanosuke dig closer to where the coffin had been. Some thin clouds were drifting through the sky and slightly dimmed the bright full moon.

"Just a (pant) little more...almost there..." the man struggled to say. It had finally sunk in that he was digging up a grave a while ago and the fact was putting him on edge. "I'm almost there, Kenshin...(pant)...I'm sorry...for b-"

Thud.

Sanosuke blinked for a second before realizing that his quick-moving hands had hit something more solid than the mud he was digging in. He swiped at some ofthe remaining wet earth and saw thewood underneath. It was broken, for the coffin had caved in. The wood was removed and Sanosuke looked hard at the mess that had been hidden just moments ago.

It was Kenshin. A COMPLETE Kenshin, not decomposing or something similar that would have been expected from a body that had been buried for over a week.

The thin clouds hanging overhead started drifting away faster than before and completely uncovered the glowing sphere in the sky. Moonlight fell upon the dead body that had been unearthed.

Sanosuke looked at his friend's face and all color drained from his skin.

"So, the Battosai is finally ready to be destroyed permanently." If Sanosuke was not terrified by Kenshin's face completely, he was now.

"...Saitoh..."

The tall man merely looked down upon the one in the grave. "Remove yourself from that hole or you will perish with your friend's soul," said Saitoh as he drew his sword.

"Yes, get out of the way."

Sanosuke's head whipped downward and looked at Kenshin's flashing amber eyes. "We have a battle that needs to be completed," said the red-haired swordsman, who was dead no longer. The taller man scrambled out of the grave and stumbled backwards a few steps.

Kenshin's bodyfloated upout of the grave before landing at the foot of his own burial hole. He whipped his right arm out to the side, fingers unclenched. A transparent grayfire swirled around his limb before gathering at his hand.

With a small flash of light, a sword appeared in his palm, but it was not a reverse-blade sword.

"...Saitoh," said the swordsman in an echoing voice, "I know what it is you wish to accomplish here. If you rejoin the body and soul of a person on the night of the full moon and kill them again they will become nothing. There will be nothing left. You wish to annihilate me from both this world and the next."

The opposing swordsman bent into his famous pose while saying, "Good, that saves me the time to explain. Now die, Battosai!" He dashed forward towards Kenshin, prepared to stab him, but the attack was easily dodged by a simple float upwards. The crimson-haired man dove down and slashed at Saitoh, who blocked.

Brilliant flashes nearly blinded Sanosuke as moon reflected off of both duelers flying swords. When one person seemed to be getting the upper hand, the other would unleash a powerful blow that would reverse their fortunes, until the first would reply with another stronge attack, and the process would repeat itself. Neither compeditor acheived the superior hand, until...

Kenshin struck hard and fast, a stabbing move, that caught his opponent offguard due to the fact that he normally used slashingattacks. The sword sunk deep intoSaitoh's chest. "There was something you must have overlooked when you researched that old myth," said the red-haired man as he held his weapon in place.

"And what would that be?" spat Saitoh ashis sword dropped to the ground.

"'After the duel is complete,'" Kenshin recited, as if reading a book no one could see, "'there are two possible outcomes. The first: the dead one's soul and body are both destroyed and he will never move on to the other life. The second: the one who initiated the ritual has his body and soul demolished instead of the one he was trying to ruin, and the dead one will be returned to life. Theresults are decided by whomever wins the duel.' You took a risky choice, Saitoh, and now you shall face the consequences." The swordsman drew his weapon back and slashed across his opponent's stomach. "You lose."

Sanosuke watched as Saitoh's body disappeared before looking over at Kenshin, who looked back. "So," said the man, "you're really back...not like last night?" His friend nodded. A goofy grin spread over Sano's face, the first one in a long time it felt to him. "Nobody is gonna believe this..."

"...you're right..."

Kenshin turned around and was about to start off when he was stopped.

"Just because they won't believe it doesn't mean you have to leave, y'know?" said Sanosuke, his hand on the shorter man's shoulder, "Besides, I think Kaoru might need to see you again." The swordsman didn't turn around so his face could not be seen, but his suddenly shaky voice gave him away.

"I've killed someone, two people infact. I do not think that would be appreciated back at the dojo."

"No, no it wouldn't. But that doesn't mean they don't want you back. After all, you were there, weren't you? That little girl said you were."

"...she was right. I was watching you."

"Then come on. I don't think they would care even if you are the Battosai."

Sanosuke hearda dry laugh. "No they wouldn't care, would they? It's not like it would change anything. People would still come after me but the only difference would be that I would kill them."

"Then just don't do it in front of Kaoru."

"...heh." Kenshin turned around and Sanosuke saw the amber gleaming in his eyes. "That, I could do."

"What are we waiting for then? Winter? Let's go!" A cocky grin spread over his face as he turned around and started walking in the direction of the dojo, the Battosai right behind him.

A/N: My friend has been bugging me to update this. She's also been telling me to kill off Kaoru. O.o

And just if you wanted this to continue (I'm hoping you do) I just felt I should warn you. It might get darker because he's the Battosai and all. Kenshin won't be afraid to kill people and that will start rubbing off on Sanosuke.


End file.
